Re:Binding
by Haqelle
Summary: Aurenia was a prodigy raised in isolation for her own safety. Her powers only brought her pain. When she arrived on Tython for her trials, the Force had other plans for her. What happens when the all-seeing meets the invisible void? / Darker telling of the Consular storyline with plenty of foreign elements.
1. Prologue

_Prologue:_

 ** _Binding_**

 _In the darkness  
_ _I drift alone  
_ _Never seeing  
_ _Never feeling_

 _Silence grasps me  
_ _Shackles to the void  
_ _As I scream  
_ _To any who might hear_

 _I feel nothing  
_ _In this cold  
_ _Devoid of sound  
_ _Devoid of light_

 _I weep  
_ _I scream  
_ _Terror seeps in  
_ _Death does not come_

 _How long have I been  
_ _Alone in this place  
_ _Without care  
_ _Without love_

 _What is that  
_ _My eyes cannot see  
_ _My ears cannot hear  
_ _Is someone there_

 _Frozen in chains  
_ _They rattle and shake  
_ _As I struggle  
_ _In my silent cage_

 _Something calls  
_ _Beyond my silence  
_ _Beyond the void  
_ _Something new_

 _Are you there  
_ _Why won't you help me  
_ _Can't you see me  
_ _Can't you hear me_

 _Are you blind  
_ _Just like me  
_ _Are you deaf  
_ _Just as I am_

 _Are you bound  
_ _In lonely chains  
_ _Of fear and pain,  
_ _Please_

 _Bind yourself  
_ _Here next to me  
_ _So maybe together  
_ _We won't be so alone_


	2. In the darkness

AN: Well, here we go. This is a rewrite of my original story that I have since taken down because I didn't like it for a variety of reasons.

I am much happier with how dark this path is and it shows a much shadier and grim side to the Star Wars universe... or maybe it's because I enjoy tormenting my characters and putting them through pain. Am I a sadist? Possibly...

I don't own Star Wars. I am just playing in the sandbox and hope I don't get kicked out.

 ** _Re:Binding_**

 ** _In the darkness…_**

Tython. Ancient birth world of the first force users, then lost to the galaxy for millennia; found once more, and the descendants of those flock to its surface claiming sanctuary. One such descendent disembarked a shuttle that stood idling on the planet's surface.

The creature made its way across a walkway, constantly scanning its surroundings. To most of the galactic denizens, the creature was female. To those that thought differently, well, everyone has a opinion on something don't they? She was shorter than the rest of the humanoid creatures around her, at about five and a half feet. Her body was thin, lithe, and compact but quite strong. Beneath her skin, her body was held together by a system of muscles developed from a lifetime of exercise and physical conditioning. Whereas others would use strength in combat to smash and crush, this one was light on her feet, acrobatic, flexible, and fast.

The female was a young adult, in her late teens. She wore a typical brown robe befitting the warrior monks of the Republic. Beneath her outer layering she was dressed in a slim fitting outfit consisting of long lengths of black fabric wound around her arms, legs, and torso forming a sort of bodysuit. It completely obscured her skin and only left her hands and head uncovered. The fabric was light but sturdy, granting a wide range of movement while she wore a short grey vest on top of the wraps and a pair of dark brown pants. The hems of which were tucked into the top of her leather boots that almost reached her knees. Her robe had a hood, but she had left it down and it formed a collar about her neck.

Beneath her cloak, she carried a satchel on her back with a wide strap crossing her chest from her right shoulder to her left hip. The bag carried her few personal possessions as well as components collected for her final task as a Padawn. A white sheath attached to her belt hung across her back, just above her tailbone. Firmly secured within, an 18 inch electroblade waited patiently for its use. She could reach behind her with her right hand to quickly release her blade at a moment's notice.

The skin beneath her wraps was incredibly pale, an almost unhealthy shade belonging to creatures that spend their entire lives tucked out of sunlight and in the darkest, most isolated caves they could find. It made sense, given her profession, if you replace the word "cave" with "library."

Perhaps what made her stand out the most was her head. It was not malformed or disfigured in any way. She was just a little different than most. Her hair was pure white; the natural colour of fresh snow and the absence of all pigmentation. The colour devoid hair fluttered lazily, her long bangs framing her face swaying gently as the tips of the rest of her hair brushed the collar of her robe.

She watched the other creatures milling about the space port carefully, though she did not turn her head. She faced forward, walking steadily towards the one sent to greet her.

She had no need to look around her. It was not arrogance or a sense of superiority that empowered her to do so. Some would claim it to be a disability, and they would be half right. Beneath a blindfold of black fabric wound across her eyes, there was nothing. She had no eyes. She had not lost them in a tragic accident or botched operation. She had lost nothing. Can one lose that which they never had?

She was born without eyes. Just as her parents and grandparents and great-grandparents and so on. Her entire species was blind. Normally this would cause all sorts of problems having a blind species out and about in the galaxy. However, while permanently blind, this was not as big a detriment as one might think. As one knows, in the absence of one sense, those remaining become more acute to pick up the slack. As a result the white haired blind girl had phenomenal hearing and her body was highly tuned to react to physical changes in her environment at a moment's notice.

To the many species that made up the galactic population, she and her people were known as Miraluka. An interesting and rather important piece of information about this strange species was their natural aptitude for the force and their passive use of it to perceive their surroundings. It is unclear whether the species evolved to discard their eyes in favour of this new way of sight or if they used this method as a replacement for their lost eyes. They had eye sockets, so it was a matter of some debate among the scientific community. Regardless, the Miraluka have many myths and legends devoted to the subject but the outcome is unfortunately irrelevant at this point.

Another important note about the Miraluka, the entire species is force sensitive. It made them somewhat of an anomaly in the galaxy as each and every member of their species could use an ability used by few yet coveted by many. As it was, many of the more force inclined Miraluka were sought after by the Jedi; and the Sith in a few notable instances.

The girl was one such case. Discovered to be incredibly gifted at a very young age, she was taken from her family when she was three and a half; far younger than the typical age for new Jedi. She was a special case for one so young to display such talent. When she was two, she accidentally hurled a speeder bike across a street and into the side of a building using only her mind.

Her induction was earlier than usual, but it was also for her own safety that she learn to control her powers before it lead to more serious incidents. Much of her youth was spent learning to control herself. Unfortunately, she as put together with other Younglings whom were several years older then her. Being the youngest is never easy especially when your abilities vastly outstrip those around you. Following several incidents due to jealousy and angry foolish children she was separated from the others and began instruction in a much more isolated setting.

There, she was given the space to grow, and grow she did. At her own accelerated pace, she devoured books and tomes and spent days in conversation with teaching holocrons learning everything she could. The libraries and archives became her home. There, she did not have to face other people who would judge her. They were scared; afraid of her power and thirst for knowledge and where it might lead her.

Her many instructors called her a prodigy. "Such potential in one so young" they had said. She knew that. Being different is not easy. Being special or unique is isolating as it destroys interactions with others as people cannot relate. She began to feel empty. Hollow. Alone. It was a fate she was doomed to suffer. To always be alone, without a bond.

Her unstoppable quest for knowledge came to an abrupt halt almost a decade later. To many of her instructors, it was a confusing change that overcame her. It was simple. With access to so much knowledge at a moments notice, she had grown bored.

There is only so much to be learned from datacrons and holorecordings. Some things need to be experienced first hand to truly understand them. Yet she would not explore the world beyond the confines of her isolation. Her teachers were concerned about her exposure to unsafe elements and she feared her own powers and self control.

By the time she was a young teenager, she was focusing more on mental discipline and meditation in order to deal with her new problems. Female anatomical developments aside, she developed a unique condition that required her immediate concentration. Whereas before, she would spend days at a time reading and pouring through every line of a massive tome, she would sit silently, perfectly still for up to and exceeding a week at single time. Sometimes she would sit beneath a gently swaying tree or levitate above the calm glass-like surface of a pond while her mind was turned inwards.

Again, she would not venture out to explore for some reason. She knew what was wrong with her though. Due to her racial blindness and her subsequent reliance on using the force, she could not figure out how to turn it off. There was something within her that refused to give up her connection to the binding properties of the universe.

When a Miraluka would 'look' around them, they would intuitively _know_ their surroundings by using the force. They could process information much faster this way than how other species see and react. They would simply know.

When this Miraluka used the force to see this way, the information would sear itself into her brain at a level of detail well beyond what was typical of her species. Many times she experienced headaches and pain from information and sensory overload. What she would see, was everything.

Everything.

She described it to her teacher once as being able to look at and focus your attention literally on every single object around her in all 360 degrees. Her range varied but at that age she would passively 'see'—therefore know—everything within a hundred metre radius. People, animals, plants, insects, metals, fabrics, solids, liquids... The list went on and on.

As her body grew her brain developed like a normal Miraluka yet she _saw_ more and more. As the level of detail increased, so too did her range. She had frequent migraines that would last for days as her sight expanded and the vast amounts of information exceeded her brains physical processing capacity. She could 'look' at a tree and know exactly how many leaves it had and tell you without having to think about it. All the information was constantly streaming directly into her brain.

Her mind was never quiet.

She suffered for several more years with trying to close herself off but it proved the biggest challenge of her young prodigious life. She was visited by many skilled Jedi healers about the possibility of severing her connection to the force but it was decided against unless as a last resort for it would absolutely cripple her. Eventually, through years of practice and deep meditations, she was able to focus the information stream to only what she desired to see; like having a laser pointer to look around with rather than a high powered omnidirectional lantern that blinds more than it illuminates. By limiting herself in this way, she was able to reduce the flow of information to about the same as what a normal non-Miraluka would get from seeing.

This was a tremendous breakthrough and she gradually began to expose herself to different locations now that she could prevent herself from information overload. During her first trip out of her secluded monastery, accompanied by one of her teachers, she lost her concentration for a moment due to the wall of emotions she sensed from ordinary people going about their daily lives. Ordinary people, ordinary emotions… She knew how to handle her own emotions, but not what she felt from so many people. She was completely caught off guard and let slip the binds on her sight as she passed out on the spot with blood leaking into her brain.

She survived the ordeal and much of her next years were spent controlling her developing and strengthening her mental barriers as she continued to learn and train, but now at a more subdued pace. Relatively confident in her mental defences and control over the force, she had set out to the ancient world of Tython to partner with a Jedi Master to complete her training and become a fully fledged Jedi herself.

The white haired girl walked slowly with her hands tucked in the large pockets of her robe. Her head was slightly bowed forward yet her gaze was quickly darting in all directions. She had discovered years earlier that she could open herself to her full sight for short controlled intervals to ping her surroundings like a sonar. As the burst of information entered her mind, she shut off the connection. It took a fraction of a second to process what she 'saw' before she carefully allowed the small stream of information to trickle back to her. In that fraction of a second, she was blind, but she had plenty of time to refocus her attention to cover for her momentary vulnerability. She changed her pace slightly as she altered course towards the expectant individual looking at her.

As she drew close, the older man man called out in a friendly greeting. "Hello there!" He beckoned her over. "Welcome to Tython!" The tall man bowed to her and she returned the gesture. "You are Aurenia Castelle, correct? I have been expecting you for some time now." Mild excitement and curiosity laced his thoughts that the Miraluka faintly detected through her mental barriers.

"That's my name, Master…?"

"I am Syo Bakarn, member of the Jedi Council."

Aurenia Castelle bowed politely again. "It is truly an honour, Master."

The man waved his hands haphazardly as he brushed aside the gesture. "No need to stand on formality. We are among kin here." Syo Bakarn motioned for the white haired girl to accompany him. "I was just speaking to Yuon Par a few minutes ago as she was making her way to meet us. She has chosen to be your Master for your final trials."

Aurenia fell in step beside him as they walked down a small hallway towards a circular office. "What can you tell me about her? I haven't come across her name before."

"Ah, of course!" The Council member stoked his beard thoughtfully. "Yuon is a historian of sorts. She spends much of her time conducting field research and has a passion for exploring ancient ruins. So much to be learned, I suppose. The topic never called to me as much." He paused as he observed the calm and collected Padawan standing beside him. "She is a rather unorthodox Jedi if I may say so. I think the two of you will compliment each other well."

"Really?" The Padawan responded dryly. Her outward countenance unresponsive.

"I must say, I am pleased you have come to join us on Tython. I have heard many impressive things and your instructors have all spoken very highly of you."

The blind girl calmly turned her head to face the older Jedi, her black veil stared at him blankly. "How much did they tell you?"

"Not many specifics as I recall, they spoke of your advanced studies and abilities quite enthusiastically. I hope we will be able to discuss your training more at some time in the future. It is not every day to have a prodigy in our midst." The Jedi smiled pleasantly, unaware of the impact his good natured remark had on the girl.

Deciding not to respond, the Padawan turned to face the door behind them as a woman who she guessed to be her new Master came running towards them.

"Master Syo! There you are!" The middle aged woman cried out as she joined them in the office, halting briefly to catch her breath. "We have an emergency! Flesh Raiders are attacking one of the training grounds!"

The easygoing atmosphere in the room evaporated and the Master and Padawan tensed for action. "How long ago did this happen Yuon?"

"Just a few minutes I think, I got the call and came to see you as quickly as I could." The brown haired woman turned to face the girl standing beside her fellow Jedi. "You must be Aurenia! It's wonderful to meet you finally!" She reached out and briefly, but quite enthusiastically, shook the blind girl's hand.

"I am sorry this isn't how I wanted our first encounter to go but coincidentally I have your first task prepared." Yuon pulled a holocommunicator from her pocket and passed it to her Padawan. "Throughout the training grounds are several holoprojectors with ancient teaching holocrons. I need you to collect the holocrons and bring them to the Temple so we can study them. They will be safer there from outside threats."

Aurenia quickly examined the disc-like holocom before slipping it into a pouch on her belt.

"I had planned to collect the holocrons together but I will need to stay here and help coordinate the rescue operation. You will have to do this on your own."

Syo Bakarn appeared shocked at the woman's decision. "Yuon, I must express my concerns about this. It's too dangerous to send a Padawan to battle Flesh Raiders! We must wait for aid from the Guardians at the Temple."

"It will take them too long to reach the Gnarls and the Raiders are already capturing and killing anyone they come across. She must go." Yuon glared at her fellow Jedi. "Besides, we both know of her remarkable fluency with the force. Gifted students such as her do not appear often and our teaching must accommodate them."

Yuon gently laid her hand on Aurenia's shoulder. "That said, I am still concerned about this course of action. Will you be able to complete this task and help as best you can?"

Aurenia nodded resolutely. "Yes Master." She knew there was nothing in her Master's words except honesty and compassion. "Though I would like to know at least a little about these aliens. I don't recall coming across anything in the archives about them."

Her Master's expression brightened at the prospect of beginning her instruction. "Of course. The Flesh Raiders are a native species to Tython. The mature adults average three metres tall and are incredibly strong." She wiggled her fingers in the air for emphasis. "They have large claws and can rip a person in half…" The woman shuddered at the memory of a holorecording she had seen. "They are primarily scavengers yet display a primitive tribal culture… It would be fascinating to study them in greater detail…"

Yuon trailed off as she latched onto that train of thought muttering about possible discoveries.

"There she goes…" Syo Bakarn watched her and let out an exasperated sigh. "Regardless, Padawan, please hurry to the Gnarls. It will be dangerous, but remember, you do not have to lead the charge. There will be others with you. Look after yourself and always be mindful."

"I will." She bowed to the Jedi.

The other Master snapped out of her revere. "Yes, of course! Contact me when you have the holocrons. Master Syo, I shall go see to the support units and provide aid as quickly as I can."

The two Jedi Masters broke company to help coordinate the defences and recovery operations while Aurenia walked towards the transport terminal to acquire a speeder. As she 'looked' around through her pinhole-like vision, the girl began to sense the growing panic among the dock workers as word of the ongoing attack spread. She let in another ping and instantly knew Master Syo Bakarn was speaking to a small contingent of Jedi sporting serious expressions. Her own Master was busy working away on a terminal. She didn't have enough time to process what her Master had been doing but she had been apparently in a great hurry. The Padawan clutched her head as another intense headache assaulted her for several seconds as her brain processed the other new and mostly irrelevant information of her surroundings. She resettled her mental barriers to her sight and continued on her way.

Several minutes later, she was airborne over the wide river and roaring waterfall towards the Gnarls training grounds. Within her heavily fortified mental shell, the girl was beginning to feel tendrils of anxiety caressing her body. She had long struggled with and managed to achieve a rudimentary control over her passive sight but her emotional barriers were another problem all together. The isolated prodigy was well aware of her own emotion deficiencies due to her uniqueness and special treatment. Books and nature were her only friends and she had very little experience with interactions of a non-academic sort. She had spent her whole life following the Jedi teachings about letting go of emotions but there was only so much letting go she could do without actually processing and understanding her feelings. In addition to her passive sight, she was similarly aware of nearby people's thoughts and emotions.

Aurenia did not 'look' at someone and know what they were feeling, she experienced what they felt as if she were them. As one who had very little experience dealing with such things, the best she could do at any given time was wall herself off from as much as possible to prevent other people's thoughts to get to her. It worked for the most part but she never learned how to deal with it so most of the time she came across as harsh and uncaring. Aurenia felt empty like she was a machine, not a person. The Padawan was truly a product of her flawed upbringing.

As the speeder descended towards the small landing platform, she was already under assault by the thoughts and emotions of the people in the vicinity. It felt like wading through knee deep water while cold rain pelted her from all directions. Not unbearable, but staying dry is virtually impossible. Aurenia took a deep breath to centre herself as her vehicle touched down before she climbed out.

Through her 'pin-hole' she had about the range of vision of a normal human yet at a slightly greater distance and she carefully looked around her. She was standing in a small outpost that had been hastily converted into a slightly defensible beachhead. Several more senior instructors armed with lightsabers formed a perimeter around the entrance and traded blows and blaster fire with the invading creatures.

Aurenia took a single look in the direction of the makeshift medical shelter and moved on but that one peek was enough. She stumbled, her hand catching herself on a railing beside her while other hand pressed to her forehead as her head began to ache.

She was scared… terrified… phantom pains assaulted her. She shivered, pulling her robe tightly across her chest even though it was a warm day.

She shook herself. "It's not me… it's not me… it's not me…" She repeated over and over in her head as she tried to disassociate these invading thoughts.

No one paid attention to her strange behaviour, too preoccupied were they with another charging wave of raiding flesh. Now that she was in their proximity, she was both afraid and intrigued by what she now knew about them. As Yuon had told her, the large walking hunks of meat and muscle were cleaving through everything in their path with a variety of metal edged weapons. They were crude, likely scavenged from scraps. A small group of seven aliens charged towards the beleaguered defenders as they covered for another group that carried the body of a young Padawan away.

Many of the Flesh Raider's jaws were dripping with fresh blood. Blood that she unfortunately did not need to think about to know it was not their own. It came from the many mangled corpses throughout the area of those that were not able to reach shelter.

Fortifying herself as best she could, she drew back her robe to expose the hilt of her electroblade. She clasped her fingers around the familiar grip and drew the amber blade with a metallic ring. She flipped the blade in the air to change from her reverse grip and activated the weapon. It sparked to life as the thin grooved blade coated itself with arcing blue electricity. The blind girl had no desire to cross blades with monsters twice her height and many times her strength but she would rather have her weapon out to protect herself.

Aurenia stood to her full height and stepped towards the charging giants. She focused on the group of monstrosities about 20 metres away and gripped her blade with both hands, holding the weapon slightly behind her as she channelled the force into her weapon. The air swirled around the electroblade as the gathering force condensed. After a second, she took a determined step forward and swung her glowing blade outward at the approaching creatures.

"Haaah!" She let out her breath as she fired off the focused attack.

She grimaced as she was hit but a backlash of painful confusion and rage from her targets as they were blasted into the air and hurtled backwards. Some of the smaller Flesh Raiders hit the ground and tumbled several times. She felt the fear in one as it landed on its head before abruptly falling silent as its neck snapped. The larger beasts in the front weathered her blow more easily, only falling onto their backs a short distance away. They roared as they clambered to their feet once more yet their protruding eyes watched the new threat with caution.

"One down…" Aurenia whispered to herself as she readied for her next attack.

As one of the matured aliens scooped up its dropped weapon, a hulking metal axe with a crudely sharpened edge already stained in various blood types. It let out a scream and charged.

She took a deep breath as the beast hurtled in her direction. A Jedi called out to her from her position a little ways to her side but she ignored them. The Padawan focused on the enraged creature before her and almost fumbled as she was nearly overcome by an intense rage and hatred aimed entirely at her. She felt anger, grief, a desire for vengeance and slaughter that felt oh so appealing.

She quickly shook herself to force aside the invading thoughts of the animal attacking her and outstretched her right hand, still holding her glowing blade. She concentrated on the giant creature and dragged it into the air, levitating it a metre off the ground. Confusion and pain assaulted her as the Flesh Raider tried to return itself to the grass just out of reach to get closer to kill the insipid tiny thing in its way.

Holding the 700 kilogram monstrosity aloft, Aurenia brought up her left hand and formed a clenching fist beside her outstretched arm. The beast shook itself as she focused intently and tightened her telekinetic grip on the creatures head. It thrashed back and forth, arms flailing wildly as its head began to twist on its own accord. Terror radiated from the Flesh Raider as it levitated helplessly before with a loud crack, its head spun 180 degrees and its neck snapped instantly. A strange emptiness coiled around her as she killed the creature in her grip.

In that moment, she was calm. Strangely so…

It was not an unpleasant feeling…

Several loud screams reverberated in her acute ears as the remaining Flesh Raiders charged after witnessing the death of their comrade. Aurenia made a split second decision and violently hurled the limp corpse she held into the approaching group. They scattered, some ducking out the way but two caught the heavy cadaver directly with their faces, getting thrown backwards.

The blind girl grasped the front two Flesh Raiders in a similar grip, one with each hand and smashed them together with a great force. Their bones snapped and as they hit one another before she threw them backwards. They landed in a twisted heap upon the ground.

"Three to go…"

The strange emptiness coiled tighter around her as it slipped past her mental defences and a coldness settled into her core.

"Padawan get back!" She snapped her focus over to the Jedi that had called as the unfamiliar woman moved to intercept the remaining raiders. The Jedi propelled herself laterally with a force empowered leap and struck one of the Flesh Raiders in the side, cleaving its torso in two with a powerful swing of her green lightsaber.

The human leapt off the falling corpse towards the next closest opponent, falling to the ground to slide between its legs as she dodged a downward strike from a blunt club that impacted the ground heavily. A cloud of dirt flew into the air and Aurenia felt the powerful vibration through her feet. The Jedi clawed the ground with her offhand to turn her momentum around before she threw her saber in a tight arc that impaled itself into the back of the Flesh Raider's head, the bright green beam protruding from its mouth like a strange tongue. The woman hopped to her feet and outstretched her hand, calling her weapon back to her.

She caught her returning weapon in a reverse grip as she spun to cleave the last remaining attacker in the face but froze mid swing. The alien was spasming uncontrollably, its mouth hanging open with its tongue limply flopping back and forth. Blood flew from its sharp teeth and its eye stocks twitched to and fro. The Jedi watched at the last Flesh Raider dropped its weapon, hitting the ground with a dull, heavy thud. The woman took a step backwards as a bloody mess of meat flew from the alien's mouth, just missing her. The Flesh Raider let out a last gurgle before collapsing onto itself and falling to the ground.

The Jedi paled as she looked up from the corpse to see the white haired Padawan panting heavily with both her hands outstretched clutching the air. Her blade stood beside her, its tip embedded into the dirt holding itself upright.

re:

Aurenia carefully extracted the third holocron from another projector on one of the stone bridges spanning the river crisscrossing the training grounds. The first two had been easy enough to collect. As she explained her purpose to the ancient teachers, they had been very understanding of the situation and requested they be reactivated in their new location to begin instructing once again.

The Jedi who fought with her earlier had introduced herself as Sirta Yondar, a Temple Guardian who was stationed to oversee the safety of the training grounds. The blonde woman was distraught over the loss of so many as only a small number of the Padawans had managed to reach her defence before the area was overrun. Sirta had thanked Aurenia for her timely intervention and listened carefully as she explained her mission.

"If you come across any missing Padawans, please send them my way. I'll send a few other Jedi to follow and secure the areas you clear. There was another Padawan who went off in search of survivors but I haven't seen him in a while, he said something about a cave then took off."

Sirta then contacted Syo Bakarn to fill him in on the situation now that she had a moment to breathe and he informed her that another group of Guardians were on their way to help re-secure the area.

After a brief rest, Aurenia decided open her sight further to ping the area at about half of her maximum range. She braced her self before she lifted her mental veil to peek at her surroundings. Her head spun. She fell to her knees and her hands clutched the grass beneath her as she pressed her forehead to the ground. It felt like her head was being kicked back and forth by a pair of bloodthirsty Kath hounds while it was on fire. Her nerves were burning as the shock ricocheted throughout her body. She nearly blacked out from the pain and the overload of information searing into her mind.

The pain began to fade after half a minute or so, but it always felt much longer to her.

Sirta Yondar came running to her side when she saw the Padawan collapse, concern etched onto the blonde woman's face. Aurenia had sat back onto her folded legs and massaged her head before accepting the hand as Sirta helped the girl to her feet. Before Sirta could ask what had happened, Aurenia began pointing to various parts of the valley describing the numbers of surviving Padawans and where the Flesh Raiders were most concentrated.

Sirta looked on in shock as the exhausted Padawan panted heavily but held herself upright and explained the situation in the rest of the valley. Sirta did not understand how she could possibly know all this information, but at the Padawan's behest, she began to organize the members of her defence force to begin retaking the valley once their reinforcements arrived. The Guardian helped the shaky Padawan to a bench where she collapsed as soon as she sat down, her entire body trembling.

The Guardian stayed close to the Padawan for nearly half an hour while she oversaw and directed the new Jedi as they arrived. Once the nearby area had been fully secured, she helped Aurenia to her feet and the girl made her way to the first of the holoprojector locations she had scouted before her collapse.

re:

Aurenia fell to one knee as soon as she tucked the holocron into the pocket of her robe. Her breath came in gasps as she struggled to maintain her focus. She had cleared several more groups of Flesh Raiders on her way between the projectors and went out of her way to break a handful of Padawans free that had been sealed inside large metal cages. She experienced their terror and pain as she helped them to their feet and tried to distance herself from them quickly to get their emotions out of her mind.

Her blade clattered to the stone tiles beside her as she clutched at her head. When she wasn't fighting, she only needed to use a small bit of her sight to know her surroundings, but as things got more hectic she had to open herself up. She saw more. She knew more… She knew those who died and their lingering thoughts of pain and fear before being swallowed up by that strange emptiness she felt earlier. She felt the hatred and rage of each Flesh Raider that she had to kill and each interaction felt like another heavy weight adding onto her shoulders.

She was tired, scared, weak… the white haired girl didn't know if it was her own emotions or those that burrowed into her flesh like parasites. It was taking more and more concentration to control the information flooding her brain. As she used the force, she had to lower her defences so she struggled with both processing more than she was used to as well as having to concentrate on tearing a tower of meat and bone apart from a distance.

Why couldn't they just die faster?

Aurenia tried to shake the thought from her head as she sealed herself off as best she could. Her breathing gradually became more normal and some of the tension left her shoulders. She felt liquid pooling in her sinuses and snorted the fluid back and dislodging a glob of bloody phlegm she spat onto the ground before her.

Blood dripping from her nose was not an uncommon occurrence yet it always seemed to happen when she stressed herself using the force. It felt toxic to her body every time.

The blind girl focused on her hearing to check her surroundings without using the force. The river babbled and rumbled beneath her yet it was mostly silent save for the distant shouts and screams of battle in other parts of the valley.

Aurenia reached for the hilt of her blade where she knew it lay and slashed it through the air to free the blood clinging to its surface before returning it to its home behind her back. In control of herself once more, she eased herself to her feet using the projector base as a support.

She carefully let her sight return to her, mindful of the toll her connection to the force that was continuously wearing her down. Aurenia had wondered many times throughout her painful life if there was a reason for her suffering. Using what came to her naturally was well beyond what other people could hope to achieve yet it caused her excruciating pain and could quite easily kill her if she was not careful. She had a normal body and a normal brain, not fit for such intense power. Her brain was like a muscle, and there was only so much it could flex before tearing.

The rabid curiosity she possessed in her youth had devolved into a fearful isolation; tucking herself away to seek a small measure of comfort from the dangerous minds of others. She did not appreciate the irony that she had to wear a blindfold over her mind as well as her face. She felt over protected and never able to relax or let her guard down. The perpetual isolation weighed heavily on her. She became solemn, indifferent, unmotivated. Aurenia wondered what she would do with her life once she became a fully fledged Jedi. Due to her powers, she figured she would be forced to join the war if, though mostly a when at this point, it began anew.

With powers as great as her own, she would wreak havoc on her enemies but only if she did not kill herself in the process. Aurenia believed she was a greater threat to herself more than anyone else. She had resolved to spend her life in isolation if that protected her from further pain.

Aurenia kept her sight very small, moving around based on the memory of her surroundings and relying on her hearing if anything approached her. There were only a handful of Flesh Raiders left in the valley by the time she reached the final projector. She turned her pinhole gaze to the slot where the other holocrons had been to discover the metal had been bent and pried apart. The holocron was missing, apparently quite deliberately.

Aurenia was tempted to ping the area again but with the now constant headache wreaking her brain, she wanted to avoid exacerbating her condition. Opening herself again at this point would likely cause her to pass out.

She had no desire to do that.

She pulled out the holocom her Master had given her and studied it for a moment before cycling through the contacts by memory and initiating the call.

Aurenia placed the small metal disc on the projector beside her and waited for Yuon to answer. A few moments later, a very flustered looking holographic woman appeared above the disc.

"Padawan! I was worried after not hearing anything from you."

Aurenia could not see the hologram as it was not a physical object or a force construct, yet somehow the knowledge of what she would be normally 'seeing' was there in her mind. She had no idea how it worked but it was the only way she could use this sort of intangible technology. No one else understood it either.

"I'm alright Master…" she quickly provided a brief description of her arrival in the training grounds and her progress up to that point and the missing final holocron.

The holographic depiction of the brown haired woman crossed her arms while she pondered what her Padawan just told her. "It's strange that the holocron is missing, the Flesh Raiders have not displayed an understanding of our technology to go after that specifically. I can't imagine they would know what it is, let alone how it works."

"There's a precedent for everything Master."

"Right you are, my pupil. We will need to figure out whose holocron this was and then we can begin tracking it down. I am relieved to know you made it through this ordeal unscathed. I was worried that this would be a bit overwhelming but you rose to the occasion better than I expected!" Aurenia had not told her how much pain she had been in the entire time nor how stressed she was feeling.

"We should track the holocron down quickly, such ancient teachings would be incredibly valuable and should be preserved." Aurenia picked up her holocom. "I'll make my way to the Temple, are you heading there now?"

Yuon shook her head. "Not yet, I'm still at the spaceport coordinating the relief shuttles. You go ahead and I'll contact you when I arrive."

"Alright, see you soon Master Yuon."

"You too, Padawan."

Aurenia deactivated her holocom and returned it to her pouch. She adjusted her robe and began walking towards the pathway leading to the Jedi Temple.

re:

Aurenia had finally managed to relax as much as she could comfortably afford while maintaining her mental fortifications. She had been walking for close to half an hour and she knew she was nearly at the half way point between the Temple and the training grounds where he had arrived.

The blind girl listened to the rustling trees as they swayed above her head and the babbling stream that flowed beside the path in a narrow channel. With the threat of the Flesh Raiders ended, the almost ethereal presence had returned to the area. She was quite impressed by the density of the force on the planet. The ground and atmosphere were completely saturated with a living, vibrant energy. There was something comfortable about the sensation that continuously washed over her. It was not knowledge and information that flowed around her, it was just the force in a way she had never encountered before.

She was so caught up in the peaceful environment that she completely missed the silent footfalls behind her. Her hyper-sensitive hearing barely detected the sound that would be utterly invisible for a normal person. She noticed no changes in her surroundings as she constantly scanned back and forth, feeling pleasantly at ease. The only warning she had were the fine hairs on the back of her neck twitching before an incredibly strong hand closed tightly around her neck. Before she could begin to comprehend it, the hand dragged her backwards into the air before she slammed face first into the dirt.

re:

AN: There we go, part one done. I hope you are intrigued with what's going down. I will follow the Consular storyline pertaining to the events but I will mix in characters from other class stories as well that I feel add more to the world I'm building. The exposition in game felt way too stiff and sudden like "NICE TO MEET YOU GO DO THE THING OKAY BYE NOW" so I tried to rewrite it myself and make the characters more familiar while writing from the perspective of a blind person... its a bit different...

As you can see, Aurenia is the Jedi Consular, but I made her a bit more unique and powerful but with some serious drawbacks.

My main OC makes its first non-appearance ;)  
I hope you enjoy what I have so far and I'd love to hear any feedback or thoughts.


	3. I drift alone

AN: Please read and hopefully enjoy as I start using a plastic shovel to keep playing in the Star Wars sandbox that I wish I owned.

 ** _I drift alone…_**

Hunger.

Starvation.

The strange entity was no stranger to the gnawing disease that eternally ate away at its innards. Such a thing existed by its very nature, the inescapable curse of all living things. Even having surpassed the limits of mortality, it still needed to feed.

It listened carefully to its surroundings while it sat completely still, invisible upon the tree branch where it silently observed. If anyone happened to look up beneath that specific tree they would have seen just that. A tree. A tree devoid of the entity that watched like a predator poised for an ambush.

A large mammal wandered far below on the forest floor, its fur coat and large stubby limbs brushing aside shrubs and low handing branches. Its lone footfalls left deep impressions in the soft earth as the animal travelled in search of food. It walked on four legs as it passed beneath the high branch where the hunter sat invisible, waiting patiently. Without a sound, the predator fell from the tree canopy down towards its unsuspecting prey.

The herbivore paused momentarily to inspect a patch of tasty looking grass when something landed on its back. Reflexively, the beast reared up on its hind legs but the hunter on its back held firm. A thin hand grasped the animal's skull and with a pull the beast went slack, collapsing to the ground like a marionette without its strings. There was a very faint whistling sound, like air being sucked through a tube as the dead body began to decompose instantly. At an incredibly accelerated rate, the body deteriorated and the beast's corpse began to disappear… into the hand still clenched to the animal's skull.

It took a minute or two, but by the time the hand let go of the skull, the once think and muscular animal was only a thin husk, its flesh and fur clinging to its bones as if it was completely empty inside. The hunter casually wiped its hand on its tattered grey cloak and lifted its head to sniff the air.

The fight with the white haired creature earlier did not go as expected.

It had targeted the alien because of its apparently weak connection to the force. When the white haired one was alone, it struck, thinking it would be an easy isolated meal. Force users always provided the most sustenance after all. It was completely caught off guard when it was thrown back and actually attacked… no one had ever detected it before when it wanted to be hidden… The rest of the fight showed it was not an anomaly or random fluke as it was located again and again. Somehow, the blindfolded creature was able to see it.

Since it tried to devour the white haired one, there was a new pain inside its body. Something besides the shoulder wound from her blade that almost severed its arm. It's leg was broken and the knee bent at an awkward angle yet still held the weight of the body in spite of its fractures. It would heal with time and food, the injuries were merely unpleasant distractions.

Somewhere, something deep inside had been uncovered and it cried out.

It knew what had begun.

A strange bitonal voice warbled from its mouth, two voices spoken in perfect synchronization.

" ** _I won't let go again…_** "

With the alien's escape and survival, the rest of the force users would soon be on high alert from then on… It would need to hunt other prey…

As it turned from the recently devoured corpse, a new scent floated across the air. It was distant, but the smell of sentient habitation was unmistakable. The hunter pulled its hood down lower over its head as it faded away silently into thin air. The only remaining evidence of its existence being the animal carcass and a pair of glowing red eyes that gleamed for an instant before vanishing without a trace.

re:

 _Earlier…_

She lay face down on the ground as a warmth began to spread into her blindfold. Her brow twitched. She unconsciously inhaled and choked on a cloud of dust. As she struggled to cope with her head spinning uncontrollably she felt a heavy object slam into the centre of her back.

Her breath fled her lungs in a weak cry that was more the movement of the air than any conscious action. The weight pressed her down just as she tried to lift her arms to raise herself up, forcing her down before she could gain any height.

She looked above her without turning her head, expecting to see her attacker holding her down. Yet… there was nothing. There was no hand or foot that she instinctively knew had struck her nor a body above her. The force flowed normally around her, seemingly oblivious to the physical object on top of her. There was a strange air current, but she couldn't make sense of it even if she had noticed.

Her face was numb, yet the dirt and stones pressing into her skin conjured a strange sensation. What little logical component of her brain that was currently functioning was jumping and waving in protest of her situation. No matter how much it yelled it could not rouse its host. Something was not working properly, that was all she knew.

She couldn't process the condition of her body after being caught so off guard. As the nerves in her face began firing after their unpleasant interruption, her understanding of the situation gradually flowed into her.

A choking gasp escaped her lips.

It hurts…

It hurts…

Her body began trembling as another tiny voice in her brain screamed at her to get up. Aurenia clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering and tried to lift her head.

A strange chill shot down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up reflexively a moment before a hand grasped the back of her head with fingers spread wide. As the narrow, bony fingers and thumb dug into her skull, she screamed.

"NO!" She sobbed, her breath beyond her control. With her consciousness absent, her body fought for its very existence. Somehow it knew the threat and was terrified.

Finally she heard a voice… or voices… it sounded like two people talking in perfect harmony… strange, she thought, but beautiful in an odd way.

The voice had two distinct parts, a man and a woman. The man's voice was tired, sounding utterly exhausted to the point that it seemed like he was talking in his sleep.

As the harmonized voices continued to speak, she grew terrified of the higher part. The woman's voice was cold; like the wind blasting across the surface of a completely frozen world in a blizzard with no shelter. A strange vast emptiness.

Aurenia finally began deciphering the strange two-toned speech and she barely registered the last several words.

The man and woman spoke in perfect sync: " ** _…know you have died with a purpose…_** " There was a pause as a strange presence began to exert itself on the back of her skull, different from the painful grip of the hand holding her down.

…

She knew…

…

She was going to die…

…

She felt cold; as something seemed to invade her very soul…

…

A mind, dark and twisted beyond all recognition into a fractured and utterly grotesque psyche…

…

Why did it feel so broken?

…

Captivated by the vast emptiness and coiling rage, she felt herself slipping away into the freezing void and knew she would soon be at peace…

…

Yet…

…

Something told her not to…

…

There was another part to the vast frozen world of pain and anger…

…

It was small…

…

It was hidden…

…

It was weeping…

…

Alone in the darkness…

…

And it called out to her…

…

With a scream of defiance, Aurenia squeezed down on her left index finger with enough force to dislocate the knuckle. The sharp pain jolted her awake and her shrill cry blasted a condensed shockwave out from her body in all directions.

The force threw launched her into the air but also dislodged the body from her back. She managed to catch herself in midair, stopping her momentum before touching down lightly on her toes.

In an instant, her robe flew off her shoulders and she drew her blade from her back with its excited metallic ringing. She moved her right foot forward with the momentum of her draw and instantly settled into a combat stance. With her blade held in a reverse grip, her left arm came up behind her right fist to guard her chest, her broken finger cradled protectively. A moment later, her blade snapped to life, blue electricity arcing dangerously along the electric sword.

She held herself perfectly still, poised on the balls of her feet, ready to propel herself in any direction at a moment's notice.

Her head throbbed from the impact and her brain began its familiar ache as she cast her highly focused sight on everything within a very small radius. She knew she couldn't focus very far but whatever attacked her should still be close by. Aurenia hoped her shockwave would knock them down at least but there was nothing she could see…

She appeared to be alone…

There was nothing nearby that the force reacted to in any unfamiliar way and all lifeforms interacted with the force in some way. Her mind was caught up between the information it had been fed her entire life and a part of her that instinctively knew she was in danger.

She forced the pain in her body to the deepest recesses of her mind where it would not interrupt her.

She scanned everything. Ground. Trees. Sky. Grass. Leaves. Stream. Dirt. Worms. Insects. Did that patch of grass move against the wind? Instinctively she threw out her left hand, palm open, towards the unusual movement launching another blast of concussive force.

With the sound of a thunderclap in the small clearing, she observed the air particles shifting as her wave of force seemed to meld around a foreign object she could not see, the information burning hot in her brain. She knew there was nothing there, but at the same time, she knew there was.

The blind girl examined everything as it happened in slow motion. The wave of energy seemed to twist around a single spot that moved along with the wave. It started exactly above the grass that moved strangely a moment before.

Aurenia narrowed her field of sight to directly ahead of her, reducing the flow of information to a much lower and more bearable level. The strange warping was surely her target. It wasn't something she had ever encountered before.

Time resumed and the disturbance flew backwards through the air, smashing into a tree with a powerful impact. She observed the tree shattering at the point of impact, fractures instantly racing up and down its length from where the anomaly connected.

"There…" she breathed as she focused all her attention on memorizing the faint twisting warp as it slowly faded away as her shockwave dissipated. The signature was incredibly faint, but now that she knew what to look for, she knew she could track it.

The disturbance slid to the base of the tree silently before fading away completely. Aurenia settled into her stance once more and watched the area around the tree, paying close attention to the patterns in the grass.

With adrenaline pounding through her body keeping her focused, her mind began comprehending a strange effect on the grass. She had never tried to follow someone moving just by their footprints before… it was impossible when she could see them, but when they were invisible…

The depressions in the grass stopped a short distance to the right of the tree and without warning, Aurenia launched another blast of telekinesis in a wide cone at the spot.

The distortion flickered into her mind and she tried to grip the spot with the force. Her outstretched hand clenched into a tight fist and she sensed something being compressed with immense pressure before it slipped completely out of her grasp.

The bitonal voice hummed from the anomaly with a hint of amusement. " ** _…interesting…_** "

An instant later, it completely vanished.

Before Aurenia could launch another telekinetic wave, something incredibly hard smashed into the side of her face. Too stunned to even make a sound, her head flew to the side, dragging her body along with her.

She cast open her sight once more in the small space just in time to latch onto a tree beside her with telekinesis and pull her speeding body out of the way of another massive tree she was on a direct collision course with. She hit the ground, hard, and bounced several times as she tumbled through the air before smashing into another, much smaller tree.

She lay still for several seconds as her head spun furiously. The air in front of her moved strangely yet before she could decipher the information she was upright and launched through the air again.

She screamed in pain and surprise as she smashed into the ground then bounced up into the air. She gritted her teeth in pain as she tumbled back across the clearing, finally coming to a stop at the base of a shattered tree. The same one, she somehow recognized through her plethora of concussions, where she had first launched the anomaly into.

 _'How can I fight like this…'_

A sharp pain stabbed through her chest as she tried to breathe. She tried to lift her left arm to touch herself but she felt nothing but pain as soon as it moved.

 _'Broken ribs… broken arm… concussions…'_

She felt a strange tingling sensation that pulled her attention upwards. It was very soft, quiet and distant…

Aurenia forced herself to her feet, pushing her half broken body up what remained of the tree as her left arm hung limply at her side, blood dripping from her fingertips. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Her mind cleared, granting her a deeper understanding of her surroundings. She tensed, expecting another lightening quick blow…

Nothing hit her… She waited for the amount of time it takes to visually capture an object even before recognizing it…

She took in everything surrounding her at a rate and depth far beyond what she was accustomed to… and yet… her mind was free of pain…

She studied every detail of the shattered tree and its still standing kin.

She learned her body's fractures and injuries at a depth that would put even the most advanced medical technology to shame.

She knew the patterns in the gentle breeze rustling the grass and automatically tracked every single wafting stem.

She understood the microscopic bacteria in the bubbling stream a short distance away and through it all…

The force… in every micrometer… in every molecule… in every atom…

It was everywhere.

As her mind cycled at a rate beyond sentient biology, she recognized what was out of place…

The warp… the void… the anomaly…

Was blasting towards her at an ungodly velocity.

In that single instant, Aurenia Castelle understood it for what it truly was.

Had she eyes, she would have wept.

re:

 _One week later…_

Ranna Tao'Ven, daughter of Sumari, the Matriarch of Kalikori Village, squinted in the dim light of her room as she studied a recent report by one of their scouting teams. With her mother's health quickly failing, the young Twi'lek woman had stepped up as best she could to help with looking after the village. The village scouts had reported something unexpected and absolutely terrifying. She hardly slept since the first word arrived.

Someone, or something, was killing her people.

No, she shook her head as the disbelief and fear coursed through her thin body.

They weren't _just_ killed.

She had seen the first bodies that they discovered before being put to rest. They were people she knew: friends, neighbours, fellow villagers…

Ranna always knew Tython had its dangers but this… no one in the village knew what could kill that left the victim so… empty… Even the village doctors had no idea what could kill in such a way. The bodies were thin, empty shells as if they had been left to rot for years as nature claimed its due yet they were only dead for hours. She shivered unconsciously and pulled her blanket tighter around her body.

She glanced back to her datapad which held the most recent report of another victim. "Twelve dead so far…" her green skinned knuckles paled as she clenched her fists helplessly. Even with more security around the village and no one going anywhere by themselves more people, her people she reminded herself, kept disappearing. They only found twelve bodies but several more people had been reported missing over the last few days.

The strangest thing about the victims was there were no signs of struggle or that her people had fought at all, they just seemed to collapse and die… or maybe in the other order. There were no signs of injury either…

The young Twi'lek stroked one of her lekku, the twin appendages descending from her skull that were her species' main distinguishing feature. Hers were a light pale green like the rest of her skin, with brown markings in a unique abstract swirling pattern. Most of her people had their own unique birthmarks on their lekku or had tattooed designs upon them. She looked around her room, her usually soft and warm brown eyes were wide and fearful. She had never felt more scared inside her own locked room since she had been a young girl.

Ranna was scared. She did not fear to admit it to herself. Yet it was not entirely a fear for her safety, but at her own helplessness. She was only eighteen, barely an adult and she had a responsibility to keep her people safe. How could she? She wasn't strong or brave. She couldn't fight like others could…

It took all her strength just to be present at the many funerals and comfort the grieving families when she just wanted to crawl beneath her bed and hide from the whole galaxy. Her people looked at her with such broken eyes, they were scared and needed someone to rely on. A part of her knew she had to step up and take a more active role in protecting her people but she didn't know how… or if she even could.

Her fear and debilitating anxiety kept her company until the sun rose, leaving her with another night of fitful sleep.

re:

Yuon Par was exhausted.

She had been delayed leaving the spaceport after dispatching the shuttles and emergency personnel to the Gnarls. She hadn't regretted sending her new Padawan on what turned out to be an incredibly dangerous mission until several hours had passed. Since their last communication where Aurenia had filled her in on what transpired in the grounds, Yuon had wanted to dive into their research as soon as possible. Unfortunately, she noted once again as she looked up from her seat beside her bedridden pupil, it was going to have to wait.

It had been seven days since she and her Padawan had last spoken and she did not know when their next chance would come. Yuon placed her datapad flat on her lap and wove her fingers together as she gazed at her student. She didn't think she would regret her decision and now her Padawan was paying the price for her choice. Yuon did not intend to make such a judgement and a small part of her reasoned that the girl _had_ completed the task assigned to near perfection… but what followed…

No one knew what happened to the girl. After their last conversation, Aurenia's last reported sighting was walking into the forest on the pathway to the main Temple. At that time, she had been fine.

The next encounter with Aurenia was with some of the instructors working with a small group of students right outside the Temple almost two hours later. Those Yuon had spoken to, described her Padawan flying through the air at an intense speed, faster than most Jedi can move. The white haired girl hadn't landed so much as stopped herself using the ground and ended up tumbling through the dirt in plain sight of the entire Temple.

Those who reached her first immediately called for doctors and she was rushed into the Temple hospital wing as fast as they could. Once the first scans came in, she was brought into surgery right away.

Yuon had arrived several hours behind her Padawan, expecting to find Aurenia waiting for her but instead she was summoned to the hospital wing immediately. She entered the room to the sight of her new Padawan lying on an operating table wearing only a thin surgical gown. An IV was attached to her right arm while her left was suspended in a wireframe like cast. Both her legs were in a similar apparatus as the doctors explained the major tendons in her legs had snapped and many of her muscles were torn. Aurenia's head was secured by a neck brace and the underside of her hair at the base of her skull had been shaved off and a line of stitches ran along her spine. A tube fed into her mouth as her ribs had punctured into her lungs in multiple places. There were numerous bandages and patches covering her body where she had suffered cuts and scrapes as the medical droids had worked to repair her.

The woman had watched as the table descended into a metal tank that rose from the floor to fuse to the surface. A Kolto Bed, a very expensive medical tool and equally valuable in its usefulness. Kolto came from Manaan, the oceanic world of the Selkath people. They mined the Kolto pockets that formed on the ocean floor that floated up from the depths. It was used as the foundation for nearly all medical technology in the galaxy. It was expensive and hard to come by, making it nearly impossible for the average person to acquire due to its incredibly powerful medicinal properties.

As Aurenia's brutally injured body was lowered into the tank, a mask was firmly attached over her mouth and nose connecting with the tubes feeding into her. The tank began to fill, the pale blue liquid enveloping the girl's body. It took several minutes as the tank slowly filled to the brim once the glass lid locked into place. The tank and bed were connected to a rotating base in the floor that slowly, carefully, lifted the tank upright so that Aurenia was suspended vertically within.

She hovered, buoyant, in the Kolto tank as her arms bent slightly as her limp body grew accustomed to her new environment. A small stream of bubbles rose from her mask, indicating she was breathing normally. After six hours of intensive surgery, the worst had passed. The team of doctors heaved a collective sigh of relief as they watched the injured girl begin her recovery. The droids made no such comment and continued their programmed functions.

For the next six days when she wasn't working on her research, Yuon went to check in on her submerged Padawan and to speak with the doctors about her recovery. The doctor in charge of Aurenia, a nice human woman by the name of Shayla Kellari, assured Yuon that most of the danger had passed and it was now up to Aurenia's body to heal itself within the Kolto tank. They could only speculate on what had put her in such a state given her highly praised performance in the Gnarls.

Over the week, several Masters and Padawans had come by to visit her. Yuon and Shayla had turned them away but each of them expressed their gratitude to the one who had saved so many lives. Yuon was very proud of her pupil, in spite of her current condition. Shayla had been amazed that the girl had managed to run to the Temple in such a state. It was beyond her comprehension how a body could function as she had been. Yuon's stereotypical Jedi remarks about the power and mystery of the force did not help her mood.

Aurenia had numerous concussions indicating powerful blows to her head and they had to operate on her quickly to reduce the swelling in her brain and drain the blood leaking in her skull. Shayla was shocked to discover signs of a similar operation on the girl some time ago.

On the seventh day, Aurenia had healed enough that she was able to be removed from the Kolto tank and she was transferred to a private room in the hospital wing where she and her Master currently lay and sat respectively. She had been taken off most of her sedatives so she could begin to wake up on her own but three of her limbs were secured in rigid casts. The only major injuries on her right arm appeared to be burn marks on the inside of her palm in a pattern that matched the hilt of her electroblade. The flesh seemed to have fused to the metal…

She had still been carrying the bloody blade in her white knuckled grip when she had collapsed outside the temple, refusing to release her weapon even while unconscious. The doctors had to electroshock the muscles in her arm to get them to relax enough where they could pull the blade from her clenched fingers. Once they separated her from her weapon, her entire body went slack almost instantly as if finally allowing herself to lower her guard.

Yuon watched Aurenia's chest rise and fall beneath her blanket in time with her slow breathing. The woman smiled as her Padawan slept, relieved that her pupil was recovering. She had read the reports from the attack on the Gnarls and she bristled with pride at how many lives were saved because of her young Padawan.

The Jedi's soft smile turned sour and as her thoughts shifted to what caused her Padawan's condition. Before they could begin their research together, she had to learn from her student what happened. Something had nearly killed her pupil, and she was determined to find out what it was.

re:

Doctor Shayla Kellari tapped away on her datapad as she organized her subordinates with a new schedule. The past week had been a nightmare. With coordinating with the Jedi to provide medical care and triage for the recent Flesh Raider attack, Shayla had been stretched thin to keep up with her responsibilities as one of four leading doctors in charge of the hospital. She was eternally grateful for her numerous assistants and medical droids, but after having to oversee them as well as perform several emergency surgeries, she was exhausted.

The doctor squinted at her datapad, her eyes loosing focus for the umpteenth time that day. Her green eyes flicked to her timepiece on her wrist where a small timer was displayed. "Five minutes to go…" With the chaos swirling around the dozens of injured added to her care over the last week, she had barely managed two hours of sleep each night. Shayla patted the breast pocket of her unbuttoned lab coat making sure the small metal case she was getting more familiar with was still there.

The design of her outfit was relatively standard for most of the doctors stationed on Tython. She wore grey pants and a white coat with pockets of various sizes lining the inside and outside of the fabric. Beneath her jacket, she wore a light green shirt with the top two buttons undone. On her left bicep was a red band with several symbols embroidered to the surface, marking her position near the top of the medical hierarchy. Her outfit was completed with a pair of her own black leather boots and a set of surgical gloves tucked into a pouch on the back of her belt.

While it was technically against a regulation somewhere, Shayla also carried a small holdout blaster underneath her left arm in a quick release holster. She had learned long ago that being a non-combatant did not exempt you from being targeted in battle. The habit stuck with her.

Shayla pulled a stray lock of hair that had fallen across her face to the side, brushing it behind her ear. Her light brown hair was usually not a problem as she kept it in a bun or ponytail but with her intense workload, it had become disheveled as she had yet to find time to readjust herself. Shayla subtly sniffed the air around her, hoping her lack of showering for three days wasn't too noticeable.

The woman quickened her pace to her next patient, one of the stranger cases of the week. She read the name as she re-familiarized herself with her updated condition. Shayla had been the first doctor to arrive on the scene and had presided over the immediate triage and lead the team through the eight hours of surgery. The doctor sighed. At least something had been going well this week.

She walked through the bustling hallways of the hospital wing, passing a myriad of medical personnel, patients, and impatient Jedi demanding updates on their progress. Shayla tried not to hold it against the overbearing Jedi, they were very protective of their young…lings?

Just as she reached the right door, the timer went off. The sudden beeping caught her off guard as she had been immersed in her datapad. Shayla reached into her chest pocket and withdrew the thin metal case, pressing a button on its side. The case split along its sides and opened in her palm. Within were twelve small capsules, nine of them empty. With her other hand she took out a small cylindrical device from her belt and inserted one of the remaining capsules into the slot on its side.

Shayla pressed one end of the injector to the side of her neck, aligning it carefully. She winced as she pressed the small button and a thin needle dove into her flesh, quickly injecting the contents of the stimpac into her bloodstream. Her pupils dilated as the powerful adrenal compounds entered her system and she immediately perked up, her exhaustion flickered away and left her almost bouncing on her feet.

The doctor ejected the spent capsule like an empty cartridge and carefully pressed it back into its slot alongside the others. Shayla snapped the metal case shut and slipped it back into her pocket before doing the same with the injector.

She had to give it to the Jedi, their medical contracts and supplies were top notch. Being in charge of their medical facilities was like having a blank cheque to whatever Republic supplies she could possible need. Shayla normally tried not to rely on stims to get through her day but with the overloaded week, she needed all the help she could get. After resetting the timer for another six hours, she opened the door and stepped into the room.

re:

Her body slept but her mind was elsewhere. She was adrift in a gentle sea, the waves lapping at her bare skin. The warm water soothed her, entrancing her with its soft comfort. Far from any shore. If one existed she had never found it. It was here where she came to think, alone, where it was quiet.

A world of silence. She had lost track of how long she had been here yet did not seem to care. It sublimely peaceful in her private sea.

As she basked in the immense calm embracing her, she was truly at peace. She floated in an infinite ocean and knew with all her heart she was safe here. Without her mind's presence, her body carefully repaired itself, waiting patiently for her return.

Her consciousness had delved deep into the depths of that vast sea. A thin tether drifted from up to the surface, a small trail of light diving straight down below. At its other end, her consciousness explored the deep. She did not know what she was looking for, yet she somehow knew, just as information imprinted unto her with the force, that there was something here for her.

Memories floated around her that she could not see. She did not need to. They all belonged to her and she had not forgotten any of them. Throughout her training she had spent many days and weeks here, in the sea within her mind. Without attachments to the physical world, this place was her true home.

Something had called to her from below. She descended. Deeper and deeper as the waters grew colder and colder. She could not see or hear anything. She drifted through undisturbed water that she had not explored for many years.

Something ice cold brushed against her. She recoiled in shock, back-pedalling in the blackness as she tried to get her bearings. She waited… feeling the ambient temperature of the water surrounding her.

Was the space before her colder than the what was behind her?

She slowly lifted her arm and gently drifted her hand into the pocket of freezing water. As her fingers gently closed to grasp it, the sensation slipped away and disappeared.

Her arm relaxed, returning to her side as she slipped into contemplation. With nothing else within her vicinity, she rose steadily through the dark ocean depths. She drifted through memories of her youth as she passed. In one she was a youngling, her first time holding a lightsaber. In another she was wrapped in a blanket as she curled up by a fireplace with a holocron levitating several inches above her hands, her smile wide and radiant. Another memory had her collapsed on the ground clutching her head with blood flowing from her nose while her teeth gritted in pain.

She withdrew from the passing memories, re-compartmentalizing them in the vast waters where they belonged. They were only reflections of her past yet every time she passed them in her ocean they would reopen old scars and leave her vulnerable upon awakening. As she broke the calm surface of her sea the endless hurricane cycled overhead, sheltering her water from the open skies beyond.

While the infinite ocean never changed or developed currents, the skies far above that connected her inner world to the empty space above were constantly in turmoil. It was the way her mindscape had developed. With such a vast environment to protect, the storms had formed to shelter it from the void outside. It truly suited her more accurately then she could appreciate.

She was a small planet, covered in oceanic tears, alone in the great dark void of empty space.


	4. Never seeing

AN: Dialogue is hard...  
Time to dig a moat in the sandbox.

Non-Basic Languages will be _"Like this, because somehow everyone understands each other 90% of the time..."_

 ** _Never Seeing..._**

Another Flesh Raider fell to the ground, its neck tilted back as blood spurted from a deep gash in its throat. The dying alien clutched at the wound with its massive clawed hands as it hit the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust with the impact.

As the creature breathed its last, silence fell on the forest clearing broken only by the angry buzzing of a double bladed electrostaff.

With a twirl, the blade spun in the air before collapsing onto itself as its bearer slid the weapon onto its back. There it magnetically locked into place on the armoured breastplate. The warrior raised its large head, flicking out a long forked tongue to taste the air. A deep hissing growl emanated from its throat, whistling between the multitude of incredibly sharp teeth lining the warrior's snout-like mouth.

Qyzen Fess hissed with satisfaction. _"Good hunt. Many points this day."_ The heavily armed and armoured Trandoshan pulled a wide bladed knife from a holster strapped across his chest. With the blade, he went about collecting teeth and claws from the fresh corpses strewn about.

The deep green scaled hunter was covered in weaponry. From his handcrafted electrostaff on his back to the multitude of knives strapped to his chest and forearms, he was was ready for anything. His dark foliage coloured armour helped him to blend into the forest as dusk approached.

Qyzen's single eye focused intently on his task while the other, a milky white cybernetic replacement, stared lifelessly ahead. The Trandoshan's tongue continued to slither between its teeth as he moved from corpse to corse. The coppery taste of blood hung heavily in the air, an intoxicatingly delicious scent.

He had been intrigued about exploring this world when his old Jedi friend had contacted him. The opportunity to hunt on such a newly settled and highly restricted world was exactly what the aged hunter had been looking for.

 _"_ _Much prey. Little competition…"_ The Trandoshan spoke in a language made up of low growls, hisses, and clicks. _"Fortunate to come here."_ Finishing up with the last of his kills, the aged warrior carefully placed his trophies into a small metal case before fastening it to his belt. As Qyzen stood up, his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings before his forked tongue slithered out to taste the air once more. His pronounced bony brows deepened in a frown. _"More prey falls to that hunter…"_ he hissed thoughtfully. _"Will make good hunt. Many points await…"_

In a single fluid motion, the eight foot tall reptile bent into a slight crouch before sprinting into the nearby trees. His long talons dug into the earth and left deep groves as he sped away much faster and quieter than his frame would have suggested.

The Trandoshan kept his pace for several minutes as he traversed the dense forest. Sighting a suitable tree a ways ahead, he landed from a long leap on all fours before propelling himself directly upwards. His sharp claws easily latched onto the dense bark as he gripped the trunk with a three-fingered hand while his foot talons dug into the wood before he launched himself further up the tree.

It took the giant a mere ten seconds to scale the hundred metre tree where he finally landed upon the upper branches. Qyzen crouched on the wide branch as his tongue flicked about, his claws holding him steady in the slight wind.

After several moments of listening and tasting, the reptile undid two clasps on his armour; one on his right shoulder and the other on his left side below his ribcage. His electrostaff remained fused to the magnetic strip on the upper side of his pack while his blaster rifle was secured to the bottom. Once disengaging the latches, he removed the pack from the back of his dark green and grey breastplate. Placing the bundle carefully on the branch beside him, Qyzen unlocked the case and withdrew a monocular. The black metal cylinder promptly lined up before his good eye as he carefully scanned the horizon.

The sun was setting behind him, casting an ambient orange and fiery red glow across the sky. With the shadows growing from his back, he peered at the rising columns of smoke several kilometres ahead of his perch.

He had a commanding view of the surrounding forest. Qyzen had seen the tree where he currently resided the day before and made a point to stop by as the single tree stood at least a dozen metres higher than the others in close proximity. A perfect lookout.

He noticed a strange scent on the air as it drifted past him. Qyzen tasted the foreign odour, not recognizing the unique trace. It wasn't so much as a smell, but if there was ever a time he imagined the sensation of actually _smelling_ _death,_ this would it.

As he twitched his nose to lock down on the trail, a screaming howl of agony and surprise echoed across the forest. Something was disturbing the prey.

The smell was somewhere ahead of him, far below. As more screams and yells erupted across the forest, Qyzen reattached his pack and staff to his armour and prepared for his descent. Whatever was disrupting the Flesh Raiders was doing so deep in their territory, further than he had progressed yet. The hunter was intrigued by whatever was eliminating the natives.

Between Qyzen and the other mysterious hunter prowling the area, the Flesh Raider population in the forest was growing thin. Since the attack on the Jedi a week ago, their numbers had steadily fallen. While he knew there were dozens of tribes across the rest of the region, Qyzen was glad to aid the settlers while he collected his points. The fact that there was another hunter besides himself preying on the Flesh Raiders was stoking the fire in his cold blooded veins. After a month planetside, the Trandoshan predator had finally caught the trail of a challenging prey.

With a fiery determination in his eye, the reptile leapt from the tall tree canopy and dove headfirst into the surrounding treetops.

re:

There was something special about children. Not being a parent herself, Ranna wasn't entirely sure what it was the kept the little girl going as she raced around the small house in circles. She dove beneath furniture and crawled over tables, laughing excitedly all the while.

At a high table in the centre of the room a Twi'lek woman, just a handful of years older than Ranna, lifted her cup to her lips. She glanced down at the liquid as it rippled from the excited bouncing of her daughter racing around them.

"Mera… I will say I told you so." The blue skinned woman took a long sip of her tea before pausing abruptly, holding the cup several centimetres from her lips as the house shook with a sudden heavy impact.

Ranna and the woman stared at each other in mild resignation before Mera, the young blue skinned girl stumbled into the room clutching at her head. She disappeared beneath the table as her bare feet clapped along the floor. The chair beside her mother shifted as it slid out from the table and with an unsteady groan, the young girl climbed up to the seat and collapsed onto the table. Her head rested on the flat surface while he lekku and arms sprawled about in an undignified manner.

Ranna watched silently as the woman across from her took a very slow, very long, and very loud sip from her cup.

 ** _SSLLLLUUUUUUUURRRPP_**

After several second of silence, the young girl rolled her head towards her mother, a mix of frustration and embarrassment on her delicate, and now slightly bruised features. _"Maaaamaaaa…"_ Mera pleaded.

Gently setting her cup on the table before her, Lorenn turned slightly and peered down the length of her nose at her daughter. "I told you that would happen, didn't I?" She held her face incredibly passive while Ranna began to fidget across from the pair.

"Yes Mama… no running in the house…" Mera grinned sheepishly.

The mother and daughter stared at each other for a long moment. Ranna placed a hand over her mouth to fight down her rising amusement.

After a momentar of intense silence, the pair cracked simultaneously. Lorenn's stern frown broke into a wide grin and Mera flashed her small white teeth. In the next moment, both erupted with laughter as Lorenn's melodious voice and Mera's excited squealing filled the small room.

Ranna broke into a fit of giggles as she watched the mother and daughter hold one another as Mera crawled onto her mother's lap as they continued to laugh.

"Hah… hah…ahhh…" Mera sputtered as she struggled to breathe between her fits of glee. "Oh…Mama that really hurt that time!" The young girl clutched her head again though she was grinning widely.

"I thought you would have figured that out by now," Lorenn shook her head, smiling as she held her daughter against her chest. "Honestly, you go absolutely wild every time Ranna comes to visit."

Ranna grinned and shrugged in an exaggerated apology. "You have my sympathies Lorenn."

Lorenn smirked at Ranna. "Maybe I should restrict your visiting privileges if you continue to be such a poor influence on my child."

"Nooooo! Mama! I love when Auntie Ran comes to see us! I know you do too Mama!" Mera squirmed in her mother's lap to wave excitedly at Ranna, her outstretched arm nearly knocking over the carafe on the table between them.

"Me too Mera, me too. But that doesn't mean you need to tear the house apart!"

"I know Mama… I know…"

Lorenn gently flicked her daughter's forehead. The girl responded by squeezing her eyes shut and sticking out her tongue. "You keep saying that, yet I don't see anything changing." She pulled Mera into a gentle hug and stroked her lekku affectionately.

Ranna settled her cup on the table and carefully clasped her hands together, her foot began fidgeting on the rung of the chair, causing her leg to twitch weakly. She looked away from the pair across the table.

Sensing the change in her guest's posture, Lorenn reluctantly let go of her daughter. Mera turned her green eyes upwards as she peered at her mother, confusion beginning to pool in them.

"Mera… could you go play in your room for a little bit? Auntie Ran and I need to talk… alone…" Mera nodded hesitantly and disentangled herself before hopping down to the floor. Her feet padded along as she headed to her room. With one hand on the doorframe she turned to look behind at her mother carefully. Lorenn gently shoed her away with a small wave of her hand before Mera finally left the room.

The moment her daughter was out of sight, Lorenn's entire body slumped forwards. She rested her elbows on the table as she held her face with both hands. Her eyes peeked out from between her fingers, exhaustion and weariness coming exposed.

"Has there been any word?"

Ranna shifted uncomfortably, glancing off to the side towards the door. Her gut churned as her anxiety bit into her once again. Managing to look back at her best friend, Ranna swallowed, her mouth suddenly gone dry. It was small and took an immense effort, but she managed the gesture.

She nodded.

Lorenn froze, her green eyes widened in fear as Ranna broke eye contact, unable to face her. The young mother's hands trembled, clutching at herself for some measure of comfort or reassurance.

Between her silent shudders, Lorenn managed to the ask the question that had been tormenting her for the last three days.

"Did they f-find him?"

Petrified by guilt and anxiety, Ranna could only nod every so slightly.

"…Is he…" Lorenn clenched her hands on her shirt sleeves. "…is he…"

"I'm sorry…" was all Ranna could say to her best friend as she couldn't bear to say the words out loud.

"I knew it…" Lorenn spoke almost in a daze, her eyes glossing over with a sheen of tears. "I knew but I didn't want to believe it…" she sniffled loudly, gently fanning herself with her hands as she leaned back in her chair, trying to hold back her tears.

"…I'm sorry…" she mumbled softly. Ranna jumped in her seat as Lorenn's fist pounded onto the table. The caraffe fell to its side, hot tea spilling across the tablecloth.

Through her falling tears, Lorenn's beautiful face twisted into a furious snarl as she glared at her friend. "Damn it Ranna!"

Recoiling like taking a slap to the face, Ranna stared wide eyed at the other Twi'lek, her brown eyes wide in fear and confusion.

Lorenn's fists pounded on the table once more before she reached across and grabbed the front of Ranna's shirt. She yanked hard, pulling Ranna towards he so their faces were mere inches apart. Tear drenched green eyes locked onto terrified browns as the two stared at each other.

"Lorenn…" Ranna spoke incredibly softly, barely above a whisper.

"Don't!" she snapped, "Don't you dare apologize to me…i…i can't…" Her words failed her as she yanked the younger woman into a fierce, desperately suffocating hug.

Ranna gasped in surprise as Lorenn buried her face into her neck, shaking uncontrollably. "I-I need you to be strong for me Ranna…please…" she barely managed to speak, her voice trembling and muffled against her friend's shoulder as she clung to her.

Numbly, Ranna wrapped her arms around her friend as the woman clinging to her shook with silent sobs. Ranna gently rested her chin on Lorenn's shoulder as they held one another.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, stretched across the table to embrace one another. The spilled tea had gone cold and was dripping onto the floor when they finally pulled apart. Each woman's face were tearstained and trembled uncontrollably.

Lorenn laughed weakly.

"What?" Ranna asked quietly, growing more concerned for her friend.

"A fine pair of messes we are aren't we?" Lorenn smiled but it didn't come anywhere near her eyes. Ranna knew her well enough to know she was trying to bury her pain beneath her facade of cheerfulness.

She was failing miserably.

But she didn't stop trying.

Ranna knew her strength was just an act. It hurt her deeply to watch her friend struggle. If she wasn't so wrecked with her own grief and guilt, she might have been impressed.

"…Lorenn…"

"Stop it Ranna…" she quickly interrupted. "Don't you feel worse, it will only make it harder on me."

Lorenn smiled weakly through her anguish. "After all, I need to find a way to tell my daughter that…" she choked on the words, "…that her Papa is gone now…"

 ** _CRASH_**

The loud shattering of glass caused both women to jump in fright as they stared towards the sound.

A bowl had fallen. Its collection of nuts and seeds spread across the floor mixing with the jagged shards of glass. At the epicentre of the pile, a small pair of pale blue feet trembled in the doorway. The women slowly, in a daze that quickly shifted from surprise to horror, looked up from the floor to the face of the young girl.

Her eyes were wide open, tears welling at their edges. Her mouth hung agape. Her hands trembled as her arms held the space where her bowl had just been. Mera was completely frozen as she stared at her mother's tearstained face.

"…Pa…Pa…?"

re:

At dusk, she awoke.

It was slow at first, like resurfacing from a deep dive. As she neared the surface the sounds surrounding her became clearer; muffled voices and the steady hum of electronics.

"…we will need to keep her in observation for a while longer, she should be waking up…"

Her automatic reflex to reign in her force sight had kicked in. Strangely, it didn't hurt as much as it usually did when she awoke. She was in what seemed to be a hospital of some kind. To prevent herself from overloading as soon as she awakened, she blocked out everything beyond the room and the two other occupants.

Her mouth was dry, parched and slightly sticky with stagnant saliva. She slowly ran her tongue over her teeth before licking her lips gently. More sensation returned to her limbs as they twitched like a sputtering engine coming to life. She noticed she was lying in a bed with a blanket up to her chest. It was soft. Comfortable.

"…right about now!"

Aurenia took a deep breath.

An unfamiliar human woman with light brown hair leaned over her bed to look down at her. "Welcome back Miss Castelle. How are you feeling?" By the medical uniform and datapad, Aurenia followed the logical path that the woman was a doctor.

Aurenia tried to sit up in the bed. Her muscles responded but sharp pains raced through her limbs and up her spine. She winced before carefully relaxing back into the bed.

"…ouch…" She rolled her wrists to check her movement, only her right arm responded so she slowly lifted/dragged her hand up to her face. Her hair was unwashed and greasy, rather unpleasant to the touch. Aurenia's fingers brushed a sort of brace secured to her neck and head. She carefully patted her face and discovered her blindfold had been removed, exposing the smooth depressions in her skull.

"…w-what happened…" Aurenia managed to croak. She carefully expanded her awareness as she began to perk up and examined her body. Aurenia swallowed loudly. No wonder she couldn't move. Both her legs and left arm were secured in rigid casts.

She recognized the other occupant beside her. "…oh…hello master…" Aurenia smiled weakly.

Yuon beamed. "Padawan! Shayla and I were worried about you." The brunette reached towards her and gently squeezed her shoulder. Aurenia winced.

"…thanks…what are you doing here?"

Yuon frowned, concern etching onto her features. "I'm here for you, obviously. How are you feeling?"

"Am I on painkillers?"

"Most certainly!" Shayla interjected with a surprising bubbly cheerfulness.

Aurenia nibbled on the inside of her cheek. "That…explains…a lot actually…"

Yuon waved the doctor off for a moment to speak. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Aurenia fell silent and the pair watched her carefully as though they could see her brain churning slowly.

Finally she opened her mouth to speak. "I…well…I don't know…" she trailed off. "I can't remember…my mind's foggy…" she clenched her head.

Shayla made a quick note on her datapad then asked carefully. " What's the last thing you can remember clearly? With the amount of head trauma you endured, memory loss is the least of my concerns."

"…trauma?…" Aurenia trailed off, falling silent again as she searched her mind.

She cleared her throat a moment later. "I…remember the forest…nature…I was on the path from the training grounds then it ends…I'm not sure what happened but I can't figure out what came after that. My memory works differently so I'll need some time to work on it."

Yuon sat back in her chair. "What about meditating? It should help you sort out your mind and memories."

With a gentle squeeze of her Padawan's shoulder, she continued. "I'm sorry Aurenia, I don't mean to force you to think hard about it. Take your time."

"Thanks Master, I'll do that when I feel up to it…" she groaned uncomfortably. "…feels like a gundark used me for sabre practice…"

Shayla chuckled amusedly. "Given your injuries, that might not be too far from the truth. You had a severe concussion, haemorrhaging, four broken ribs, two broken fingers, your left forearm fractured and the tendons in both legs snapped and you had torn muscles all over your body." She inhaled deeply as she concluded her list in a single breath. "That's not counting the _other_ fractures and bruises all over your body."

Aurenia was silent as she processed the information the doctor told her and compared it to what she was beginning to understand from her force sight. "Well then…" she breathed softly. "How long was I out? My body seems...in better shape than what you just told me."

"Well, first there was the extensive surgical operation then seven days in a Kolto bath. We only took you out this evening." Shayla stated matter-of-factly.

"Was it that bad?" Aurenia asked cautiously.

The Jedi and Doctor nodded simultaneously. "You were lucky to have been treated so quickly. You arrived just before the medical shuttles returned from the spaceport so Shayla was able to take over your treatment." Yuon explained to her groggy pupil.

Aurenia lifted her right hand towards the doctor who caught it. "Thank you…Shayla was it?"

"Doctor Shayla Kellari, Republic Medical Services and sub-overseer of the Tython Temple Hospital. I will be managing your recovery during your stay here." The brunette smiled. "You have a tough road ahead so I'd like to start your physiotherapy as soon as we can."

The doctor withdrew a small communicator and placed it on the table beside the bed, within arms reach for Aurenia. "Use that to page me if you need anything in the meantime. I'm glad you've woken up. I don't like my patients who give out on me." She added with a crooked grin.

A small smile tugged at Aurenia's lips while Yuon scowled. The doctor continued, "I know you have questions but get some sleep as soon as you can. I'll come back later tonight to check on you."

Checking her watch, Shayla took a step back from the bed. "That's all the time I have for you now Aurenia. I'll leave the two of you to catch up while I continue my rounds. Call if you need me." With a nod and a wave for the Jedi, Shayla left the room.

"She is an odd one…" Yuon murmured softly.

"Indeed." Aurenia shifted in the bed, pulling her blanket up over her hospital gown in an attempt to warm herself. "How are you Master Yuon? It's been a while I take it…" she added with a small grin.

Yuon shook her head in disbelief. "First thing she asks when we're alone is how _I've been_ yet she's the one who's been hospitalized in a coma for a week…younglings these days I swear…"

The pair chuckled.

"I've been doing well all things considered. After you left the Gnarls, things quieted down but I was delayed leaving the spaceport. I didn't get to the temple until after you had arrived and were already in surgery." The woman trailed off, her features softening as she gazed at her pupil. "I am truly relieved you have returned to us." she glanced at the twin leg casts before quirking a thin eyebrow. "…almost…"

Aurenia carefully wiggled her toes, the only part of her feet not encased in a cast. "I'll get there eventually."

Yuon started and reached beside her and lifted a satchel into her lap. Aurenia couldn't move her head because of the neck brace yet she easily recognized her bag. "My bag?"

Yuon nodded. 'Yes. I made sure to gather your things and hold onto them for you. Your clothes will be ready when you can get out of bed. They were not in the best shape when you arrived and that's not including all the bloodstains. Your sword is currently in my office so I'll return that to you once you're up and about."

The Jedi placed the bag on the table beside the holocom so Aurenia could reach it if she so chose.

"Good work by the way, with the holoprojectors. I had wanted to wait and study them with you but as the days rolled by I couldn't hold myself back." Yuon smiled sheepishly. "The three you collected have been connected to the primary archive and have been uploading their memory banks."

Aurenia listened patiently, unable to do much else as she sensed her Master's continually growing excitement and anticipation. "Did you learn anything about the missing fourth?" she asked after a moments recollection of what felt like yesterday. Aurenia decided meditating to focus her mind would be her first task in the morning. She didn't like having trouble remembering what happened and the blank spot in her memory was deeply unsettling her.

"Indeed Padawan. I spent many hours searching and researching and I have two important pieces of information. Both give me a very bad feeling and I grow more concerned by the day." Yuon's playful expression turned serious. 'The holocron belonged to one 'Master Rajivari,' one of the founders of the first Jedi council."

Before Aurenia could comment, Yuon continued with a touch of concern in her voice. "From what I gathered from the other holocrons, Rajivari was one of _the_ first documented dark Jedi. He betrayed the council and waged war against his fellow force users."

"Hang on, why would they keep a holocron of a dark Jedi?" Aurenia asked. "That doesn't seem like a wise decision if he would be in a position to influence future Jedi."

"Well said, I do not know why they kept such a potentially dangerous holocron unsecured. Perhaps his example would serve as a guide to what path not to take." Yuon replied thoughtfully. "If we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it."

Aurenia sighed heavily. She was tired, exhausted, if she was honest and her entire body was stiff. She tried not to move and exacerbate her injuries as she tried to make herself comfortable. It didn't really work.

The Miraluka studied her Master in greater detail. The mature woman was tired. There were dark rings around her eyes and her body was suffering from sleep deprivation, if the subtle muscle twitches and weak posture were any indication. Aurenia felt the woman's emotions. Weariness, concern with a mix of excitement, relief and anticipation yet everything was overshadowed by a dark hanging cloud of guilt.

' _What is she feeling guilty about?'_ Aurenia wanted to asked. She shifted slightly and winced as one of her ribs sent a spike of pain through her chest. As she flinched, Aurenia noticed a jump in her Master's stress, concern, and guilt.

' _Ah…that's how it is.'_

"Master…" she began slowly, licking her lips. "…you know what happened to me isn't your fault."

Yuon gasped in shock, staring wide eyed at her bedridden pupil. "Padawan I…I wasn't…" the woman trailed off. "I figured you would have noticed…"

"Do not blame yourself for my condition." she smiled softly but with genuine appreciation. "While I do not remember what happened, I do not hold you responsible. I do appreciate the concern though, it's not exactly what I'm used to… But please, you should go get some rest Master. You clearly need it."

Yuon was stunned. Just how much did her Padawan read from her body language? _'Her perception is remarkable…'_ "I…ah…I don't know what to say… thank you Padawan…no, thank you _Aurenia_. I think that's exactly what I need. We can pick this up later."

"Wonderful, I think I'm about to pass out again in a few moments…staying awake…is hard…" Aurenia whispered, her voice growing softer as she relaxed into her bed.

Yuon stood and began to collect her things. "Wait Master…what was the second thing about the holocron?"

Yuon flicked off the light switch, casting the small room in shadow. A thin beam of moonlight entered from the window, negating total darkness while the Jedi silently kicked herself as she realized it would have made no difference to her pupil. "Ah yes…after many inquiries, I can say for certain that no one from the Temple has recovered the holocron. I will continue researching but as for what that leaves out, I cannot truly say."

"Oh…I see…" Aurenia replied steadily. "Don't worry Master, we'll track it down…some other time…"

Yuon Par smiled at her rapidly fading Padawan. "Indeed we shall. I will come by first thing in the morning. Sleep well Aurenia. Welcome back."

"You too…Master…Yuon…"

The white haired girl was unconscious again before the door slid shut a moment later.

re:

AN: Things are moving along now. Poor Lorenn and Mera... Ranna doesn't have it easy looking after her people with something hunting them...mehehehehehehhh...  
Aurenia's awake and injured AF! This chapter was an exercise in writing dialogue since I focus mainly on scene descriptions in my writing style so forgive me if its rough.

Next chapter is pretty much done at this point so after some edits I'll add it to the collection. It introduces my OC's origins a bit and the beginnings of his backstory which will have several more OC's that will come into the story later on.

Until next time, thanks for reading!


	5. Never feeling

_**Never Feeling**_

 _ **Eighteen years ago…**_

A black clad figure crept invisibly through a deserted metal corridor. It was the dead of night on the orbital space station and barely anyone was onboard. During the day, however, the small station was a bustling hive of activity. Incoming and outgoing ships shuttled passengers and goods to the planet below and connected the supply lines that crisscrossed the galactic map.

The small contingent of protocol droids wandering around were of no concern to the figure. Their optics weren't advanced enough to detect what could hide from infrared and ultraviolet detection. The Force was the best cloak there was. This practitioner was a master in this craft. Invisible and silent, the dark figure made their way towards what they hoped was one of the occupied shuttle bays.

A small craft was indeed docked in the second hanger they checked. A quick look around confirmed there was no one else. The shuttle that lay in the centre of the hanger was a small transport. It could hold 10 people and a small amount of cargo. While it lacked a hyperdrive, it was more than enough to reach the planet below. That was all they needed now. Silently slipping aboard the transport, the figure shimmered into existence.

The doors of the shuttle slowly closed and the interior was shrouded in darkness illuminated only by the faint gleam of instrument panels. They had a moment to rest and they needed it. The figure carefully lowered themselves into one of the pilot seats, pulling back the hood of their black cloak. A pure black helmet covered the entirety of their head and with a hiss of compressed air, the sealed suit unlatched itself. The smooth black metal began to separate along the jawline of the person's face and finally disconnected with a subtle click.

A pair of dark gloved hands grasped either side of the helm and tenderly lifted it to reveal the face beneath. A pair of bright silver eyes gleamed in the darkness as they placed the helmet on the panel beside them. Reaching to the back of their head they pulled free a long ponytail of silky black hair.

The young woman shook her head briefly to loosen things before opening the front of her cloak to unveil a wrapped bundle pulled right against her chest. She smiled tenderly as she felt the warmth of her child through her clothing.

She was a Void, a blank space in the Force. She gave off no energy and had no detectable presence… it was an incredibly rare phenomenon to naturally occur. It was an inherently dark power, and hers was the strongest in her family in generations. It was what made her the assassin she had become.

Her pureblood line could trace its roots back well over a millennia, since the end of the Great Hyperspace War. For her, light and sound would bend around her, rendering her invisible to all but the most highly advanced detection systems. Her lack of presence in the Force meant that she was nearly impossible to be sensed by other Force users.

A light flashed from across the deserted hanger and cast a brief light across the ship. The beam quickly crossed the woman's face. In that moment, her vivid crimson skin became visible before the light faded. She squinted slightly, the glow of her silver eyes dimming through her narrowed eyelids.

She was Sith. She was A Sith. Over the years, the numbers of pureblooded Sith had grown fewer and there were many who refused to "mate" with those whose genetics they deemed unworthy. Unfortunately, her "mate" had been decided for her with an arranged marriage by her family. It was a good match they had said. She sneered into the darkness as she drew strength from the anger she felt towards her parents. Her partner was another pureblood; strong and influential, but it was not a life she wanted for herself, nor for any children she would be forced to bear.

So, she left.

In the dark of night, she stole herself and her newborn child away from the Imperial Capital, Dromund Kaas. She had to fry her own implants with a burst of lightning to prevent the trackers from catching her scent. A faint scar drove a wedge across her temple, disrupting her otherwise pristinely smooth skin.

Now here she sat, floating on a small station orbiting her chosen destination half a galaxy away. Of all the places to go, this was her best chance. It had taken her just over three months, sneaking invisible from ship to ship, planet to planet, system to system, but she had made it. A set of white teeth gleamed in the darkness as she smiled to herself.

Carefully, she undid some of the straps holding her infant to her chest to hold her child in her arms. The three month old boy cooed happily as his mother stroked his face softly. A small pair of silver eyes watched her curiously as she played with the small tuft of black hair atop his small head.

"We're almost there, my love." She was only twenty, but her life growing up a Sith had aged her beyond her years. The arrangement with her husband had left her with nothing but a burning hatred for the man and her family that had subjected her to his arrogance and sadistic brutality.

She had been his second wife, even while his first raised their daughter. She was a pleasant girl, excited to have a new half-brother. She remembered when the young girl had held her brother for the first time; it was the first time the girl had ever looked so happy and full of love for another being. It would be harder for her step-daughter now that the she had fled. Knowing her husband as she did, he would make the girl's life a complete hell in short time.

If only she could have taken her step-daughter as well…

The babe in her arms grasped a few stray stands of her hair, tugging gently to get her attention. 'At least you will be safe, my love.'

"Hungry?"

The Sith undid the front of her robe to expose her flesh and her son latched onto her breast. At least she had been able to provide enough nourishment during their journey. She on the other hand, was becoming emaciated and thin. It had been days since she had last eaten. With her free hand she explored the compartments around the cockpit before finding a small container beneath her seat. 'Thank god for hidden rations…'

She carefully unlatched the small rectangular box and the lid folded back onto itself to reveal its contents. She frowned, there wasn't much here. She removed the small package of deathsticks and slid them into her pocket. 'No point letting them go to waste…' She had 'acquired a taste' for the harsh psychedelic drug in her youth at the Sith Academy but had kicked the addiction before her pregnancy. She did not want such a thing to influence her child.

The rest of the small container was stuffed with small ration pills, each one a complete meal replacement. She took out three packages and stuffed the rest into another pouch on her belt. She tore the wrappers with her teeth and popped the food pills into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully as the highly condensed meals began to refuel her body's energy reserves.

She pondered her next move as she and her son ate and drank respectively. Should they go down to the planet now in the shuttle or wait for the morning shifts to start and hide onboard. 'We're already here…' "What do you think we should do?" The infant released her breast and looked up at his mother. He cooed again and made a few babbling noises as he clutched at her robe.

"I thought so…" She grinned. She was beyond relieved that her son had made it through their travels. She was far more worried for his safety than her own. She wondered if her own mother had felt this for her when she was younger… It certainly didn't seem that way…

Growing up to Sith parents was not what many would consider a good childhood. Nothing was given freely, everything had to be earned or came with strings attached. She wasn't sure if that was to train her in the ways of Sith politics or that they were just awful people. The infant resumed his feeding.

"Let's go now, it will be easier to land when there will be less people awake." The young Sith pressed several buttons strewn across the control panels and the shuttle's engines hummed to life. No response yet from the control station, she had… put them to sleep… for lack of a better term. She did not kill them, their deaths would raise suspicions but if they all had taken an overlapping nap it would not be unheard of.

The anti-gravity generators gently lifted the ship off the durasteel hanger floor and the shuttle began to rotate towards the gaping void of empty space. The ship floated through the electromagnetic fields that withheld the atmosphere on the station. They were flying. Somewhere on the planet below, she hoped she would be able to create a safe haven for her family.

Three hundred years ago, the planet Telos IV had been devastated by a Sith fleet commanded by Admiral Saul Karath. On the orders of the Sith Lord, Darth Malak, the orbital bombardment had annihilated all life on the planet. Millions were slaughtered. The planet's surface had been left in total ruin, a radioactive hellhole of destruction and death. In the years following Malak's defeat at the hand of his old Master Revan, the Republic began a unprecedented task: to heal Telos.

The Republic chose the Ithorians, a species of ecologists and bioengineers to spearhead the project. An orbital station was constructed above the planet's surface: Citadel Station. It was a massive installation that stretched to cover almost one tenth of the planet. The area beneath it was known as the Restoration Zone and was the primary focus of the planet's recovery in the early years to establish a foothold.

Shortly after the initial completion of the Citadel, the destruction of the Peragus Mining Facility nearly spelled the doom of the project. Peragus was an asteroid mining complex in the shattered ruins of the planet that shared the same name; a mining accident centuries earlier had ignited the volatile unrefined fuel, the resulting chain reaction of explosions that ripped the planet in half. Without fuel, the Citadel would plummet through Telos' atmosphere, annihilating any hope of the restoration's success. A Jedi Exile by the name of Meetra Surik, having fled the destruction of the Peragus Facility, was blamed for the crisis. The Exile was eventually able to secure a trade agreement with the Hutt Cartel from Nar Shaddaa while there on other business. With a new supply of precious fuel, the project's survival was assured.

Attracted by the recent activity, the Ravager, a Sith dreadnaught approached the planet commanded by Darth Nihilus. A few years before, the Sith had travelled to the Miraluka world of Katarr, drawn by the Force sensitive species and the Jedi Conclave held there.

In a desperate bid by the Jedi to catch a glimpse of their enemy, that darkness had revealed itself unto them. Nihilus consumed all life on the planet save one young Miraluka named Visas Marr who later proved instrumental in his death and the reconstruction of the Jedi Order. While it was not their homeworld, all Miraluka know of the destruction of Katarr.

Following Nihilus' death at the hands of the Exile Meetra Surik, the Republic was able to refocus their attentions to the restoration of Telos.

The once barren and desolate planet had been completely reborn as a symbol of the perseverance and determination of the Republic. The capital city of Thani had been reconstructed and greatly expanded upon. Rebuilding civilization on the planet coincided the rebirth of nature, and the planet thrived. Over the last three centuries, the beautiful planet had become home to all manner of species. The Citadel had been moved to another planet to continue its work once Telos' environment had become self-sustaining again.

The small shuttle drifted lazily as it distanced itself from one of the numerous orbital platforms surrounding the planet. The dark side of the planet lay below them as the Sith piloted the ship downwards, already looking through the navicomputer for a good spot to land. Regardless of the situation planetside, she needed to stow the shuttle away safely for later use. Changing its registration would be difficult but it would have to do until she acquired a new ship for herself.

Telos lay at the very edge of Republic controlled space and it would serve as a good home for a least a few years before the Empire advanced further into the Galaxy. If she played her cards right, she could hop from planet to planet keeping just outside of the Empire's reach. The ideal, of course, would be to make it closer to the core worlds but that would have to come later. She did not want to risk her son's health and safety by exposing the infant more than necessary. If she came across an Imperial patrol, she could flaunt her racial authority of a Sith but doing so would attract attention. She wanted to stay below the radar as much as possible for the time being.

Her atmospheric scans started coming back in. The planet was in pristine condition and the environment was even healthier than it was prior to the initial destruction of the planet's surface. There were many places she could go. One of the larger cities would do nicely as she could easily slip around unnoticed. She was in the process of adjusting the shuttle's course when she sensed a faint pull from the planet. The infant in her arms seemed to notice something as well, his eyes were darting to and fro and he had begun to worm himself closer to his mother.

The Sith frowned. 'What was that?'

She had felt similar things before, warnings or other presences through the Force. As a Void, she was much more aware of the Force around her as she gave off no signature to interfere with her surroundings. The fact that her son was reacting to it instinctively was a concerning sign. The young woman hugged her child and hummed quietly into his ear. His agitation faded after a few minutes under her maternal care and attention.

Turning to look out the windows before her, she noticed that the shuttle had continued to drift while she was distracted. The planet below had filled the viewports and appeared directly ahead of them. There was white… ice everywhere… the planet's pole…

The frozen landscape beneath them stretched across the end of the globe before breaking out into alpine mountains and rivers flowing from the glacial ice cap. 'Something is down there… and it's calling…'

The young woman maneuvered the shuttle down into the planet's atmosphere. Flames spread outside the viewports as the shields sheltered them from the air friction as the ship vibrated. A scanner pinged loudly to alert the passengers of the ground below. There was a weak heat signature detected beneath the ice shelf. She checked the planet schematics and there was a record of an old planetary irrigation installation in the pole.

She gently caressed her sons cheek as their eyes met. "Shall we go, Malen?"

re:

A tall, slender human paced the halls of the small temple. He had been recently assigned to the planet due to his experience with horticulture. A request for a specialist had come in to the council several months ago and this human, Lamar Daav, had been selected to assist the academy.

The man was a young adult, half way through his twenties. His light brown hair was neatly groomed and matched the style of the small goatee he sported on his chin. He was tall, with broad shoulders and lean muscles from his Jedi training. As a member of his sect, he wore the white robes of a Jedi historian.

There were several branches into which Padawans could choose to devote themselves to. The Jedi Knights were the combat specialists and served as the front line of the order. There were also Consular who focused on non-combat subjects like history, diplomacy, politics. He chose to devote himself to horticulture and agricultural study.

Lamar had completed an internship to study under one of the Ithorian herds. They were not the same ones who pioneered Telos' restoration, that honour belonged to Chodo Habat. The man had been an inspiration to many. That was also why Lamar had come to this planet; to assist the academy with data collection of the planet's atmosphere and flora.

To stand on one of the Republic's greatest ecological successes was almost a dream come true for the man and he was eager to begin his work before he would travel to his next destination. Telos was his first stop in a tour across the outer rim where he planned to visit numerous world's to study and work on his thesis.

His pacing was a habit of his. He was getting anxious.

The war was escalating. The Sith Empire moved further inwards with each battle and the Republic was struggling to keep pace or even repel the attackers. Lamar was not a Knight, but he could fight if he needed to. Battle was not something he took pleasure in. His cyan bladed lightsaber hung from his belt but it had been a long time since he used it outside of training. He was relieved that he had not been summoned to the front lines of combat since the war began.

The man made his way through the Telos Jedi Academy in the ancient planetary irrigation system. This place had once been used by the Jedi Master Atris around 300 years ago in the time of Revan and the Exile. She had surrounded herself with Echani Handmaidens who were trained to resist the Force. It struck him as strange behaviour but the woman had been obsessed with learning about the Sith and preserving as much knowledge as possible. She had believed herself to be the last Jedi.

Even after her close friend Meetra Surik, the Exile, returned, she resolved herself that she was still the last true Jedi. The woman slowly fell to the dark side, twisted as she was by the Sith holocrons she had collected. Lamar had heard rumours that Atris had created a holocron herself as the Exile's companions rebuilt the Jedi Order, but so far, no one had found it. It was one of the goals of those dwelling in her old academy.

Lamar entered the empty mess hall and from there, the kitchens. It was late at night and everyone else seemed to be asleep. He made himself a small meal and was on his way back into the mess when he heard a faint clatter from behind him.

He turned. He could hear a pot ringing itself on the ground as it slowly spun to rebalance. Lamar placed his tray on a nearby table and walked back into the kitchen towards the noise. The pot must have fallen off the counter or something…

"What the…?" The pot had a handle with a loop on it that it had hung from the wall. It shouldn't have been able to fall like that. He took another look around but saw no one else in the room with him.

He picked up the packet of dehydrated noodles and bread that had fallen out of the cupboard and placed them back inside. The cupboards all had weak magnets in them to prevent things from falling out like this. It was weird.

Lamar scratched his chin after he finished putting everything away again. Someone must have left halfway through preparing something and forgotten about it. He shrugged to himself, at least it didn't make a big mess that he had to clean up. Turning, he walked back out of the kitchen to eat his own food and stopped dead in his tracks.

It was gone.

His delicious plate of smoked meats and cheese he had prepared for himself was nowhere to be seen. Part of it remained… the empty plate and tray… but the food was gone… all gone…

"Shit son of a bitch god damn it!"

He knew he was new to this academy, but did people still prank each other? And the food! The food was stuff he had bought himself when he was last in town. That is crossing some serious boundaries. 'You do not mess with a man's food!' A vein bulged on his forehead and he massaged his temples.

"Okay…okay…okay…"

He looked around the dimly lit mess hall. The several long bare tables with empty seats seemed to glow in mockery at him. Lamar scowled. "Who the hell took my damn food? Come out already!" The silence of the room was the only answer he heard.

"Hmph!" Lamar picked up his now empty tray and stormed back into the kitchen towards the cupboard where the rest of his food was. 'I'll let them get away with it this time but I swear I'm gonna find who's messing with me' he thought to himself. The magnetic latch on his cupboard clicked open as he approached. His jaw dropped.

"WHAT!?"

It was empty. Just like his tray, his stash of food was gone. He was getting frantic. 'It was right there a minute ago!' A long stream of profanities flew from his lips and he kicked a nearby storage container, almost knocking it over. His terrified blue eyes tore across the room, locking on anything suspicious and every shadow hidden corner.

"Why!?" He fell to his knees dramatically. "Why go after my food…." The man sobbed weakly. With nothing else to look forward to for his late night snack, Lamar slowly put his tray and plate away. With his arms hanging limply at his sides, he made his way back out of the kitchen and turned off the lights as he passed.

Had the man not been so preoccupied with mentally going through his list of passwords that he would change as soon as he got back to his room, he would have heard a very faint infantile giggling coming from the dark kitchen.

re:

 ** _Present day…_**

In the forest within a days walk from the Twi'lek Village, the bodies of several dozen Flesh Raiders lay haphazardly strewn across a large clearing. The muscle bound beasts that threatened to overrun the nearby territories had been utterly drained. There was little blood covering the ground as none of them had managed to lay a finger on their attacker…

The hunter snapped its hand away from the last corpse as it joined its fellows in a state of decomposition and dehydration. The once large aliens had been reduced to thin sacks of skin and bones as they had been drained… one by one…

Surveying the forest, the predator's thin bony hands reached and clawed at its own head. The dark red fingers gripped the tattered fabric and pulled downwards, dragging the hood lower and shadowing the emaciated flesh beneath.

The figure was tiny compared to the giant corpses that littered the area; standing next to a Flesh Raider, it would only be half the height. That did not change the fact that a small battalion of the giants were dead and the cloaked figure was not.

Twitching sporadically, the cloaked figure carefully knelt among the carcasses; its unique blended voice of man and woman sputtered and babbled strings of random noises.

 _ **"n-no…go back to sleep…n-not yet…i-it isn't time…"**_

The figure fell forward, clenching its head with both hands as it screamed in pain. The sound reverberated across the large clearing and several birds in the nearby trees leapt to the skies in alarm.

The hood lifted slightly and its crimson flesh became visible, thin wisps of black smoke rose from the exposed skin. The eyes were not glowing red anymore. They were a dim and tarnished silver.

 _ **"…I won't let her take you again…"**_

A last whisper floated across the lifeless clearing as the figure faded away.

 _ **"...malen..."**_


End file.
